


Show me your true colors

by navaan



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Banter, Friendship, Gen, Gen Fic, Humor, Post-Iron Man 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 10:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/823359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After <i>Iron Man 2</i> Rhodey talks to Tony about the armor and then after <i>Iron Man 3</i> Tony has something to say about the “Iron Patriot” again. Basically friendly banter and a look at their friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Show me your true colors

**Author's Note:**

> Random comic allusions. :P

When Rhodey entered Tony's workshop - which Tony still occasionally insisted was _just_ a garage – he did so determined to make Tony talk to him. Two weeks before Rhodey had offered Tony to make sure himself that Tony would get back the War Machine armor from the military before anyone could even think about reverse-engineering it. His friend had waved him off and smiled: “Pepper has already taken care of it. Threatening a few law suits and a press conference about the Hammer mess. Don't worry. We have an agreement.”

He'd known that, of course. His superior officer had also informed him that Rhodey piloting the suit was part of said agreement. Now he just wasn't sure how to feel about it.

Tony was busy moving tools around on one of his work tables, while Dummy was moving and whirring beside him like a slightly nervous pet and Tony was obviously trying to keep the robot from interfering with whatever it was he was doing. Rhodey had known his friend long enough to recognize when Tony was just aimlessly tinkering, probably in hopes of avoiding some important conversations that were coming his way – now that he was not dying anymore and everybody _knew_ what he'd so conveniently been hiding.

The fact that the glass doors to the work shop had admitted him right away was a good sign though. If Tony really wanted to be alone he easily had the means to completely and very effectively shut out the whole world for however long he wanted to.

He inched a little closer – not too close, just close enough to be sure Tony would hear him over the sound of his work. Tony gave no indication of having noticed his presence, but Rhodey was pretty sure he knew he was right here, and was probably bracing himself for an uncomfortable heart to heart.

“Did Pepper tell you I was hiding?” Tony asked, not turning away from his work.

“Are you? Hiding?”

Tony cocked his head to the side, either contemplating the little metal part in his hand or actually thinking about the question. “I don't think so.” The _Not anymore_ was left unsaid, but lingered in the air between them.

“Okay,” he said and nodded. “That's good. You know you shouldn't have been hiding something like _dying_ in the first place...” Tony still hadn't turned around yet, but waved a dismissive hand over his shoulder. Obviously he was still trying to downplay what had happened. So Rhodey changed tactics. „Did you let me take your suit?” he asked and waited for Tony to look up from his tinkering.

“You took it,” Tony said, _without_ looking up. So Rhodey had a pretty good idea that he was not telling him the whole truth about _what_ exactly had been going through his head back then.

“Yes, I took it. But did you _let_ me?” He picked up some metal scraps, knowing that would get Tony's attention immediately. In his workshop Tony was the worst kind of control freak. Well, even outside his workshop Tony had this thing about control – either trying his hardest to keep it or completely losing any semblance of it. When it came to his tech, his little and not really all that small projects, he _never_ liked anyone interfering.

As expected, Tony looked up, frowning at the way he was handling whatever it was he'd picked up. Rhodey didn't even look down to check the little metal bolt in his hand. Then Tony finally met Rhodey's eyes for a short moment and shrugged, much too casually. “Did I mention I was dying? You know? At the time. I was dying.”

His first impulse was to get angry. Because his best friend had deliberately been keeping this to himself at the time, until he'd caught him in a weak moment and should have really put two and two together on his own. They all should have known better, seen the signs the moment Tony was descending into old patterns of self-destruction. “I know, you idiot,” he said instead of all the ugly things he could throw at him. “You're not dying now. So do you want it back?”

“What would I do with it now that you've ruined it with inferior Hammer tech?” Tony actually scrunched up his nose at that, as if someone putting Hammer weapons on one of his suits was the worst thing that had happened to him recently.

A small smile stole onto Rhodey's lips, but he refused to be sidetracked. “So, you're giving this one to me?” he asked.

“I'm not giving anyone anything,” Tony threw down a screwdriver. It rolled down the table and fell on the garage floor with a loud clang. “You _took_ it. Remember that.” Then he waved him away with one hand, probably trying to tell him that this conversation was over, and turned back to his work.

“I'll remember,” Rhodey promised, now outright smiling.

He'd also remember that Tony Stark was in fact a genius and was always planning for the future. It was hard to imagine that someone like Tony couldn't have prevented him from taking any of his precious suits. He must have foreseen the possibility of someone taking it, of the military trying to get their hands on one. “You know that suit – the one suit that wasn't painted in your pretentious Iron Man colors – seems to be conveniently coded to my bio signature. We've had a few others try to activate it...”

Tony, all concentration back on his work, snapped his fingers and Rhodey's words were drowned out by the blaring tones of rock music. Rhodey chuckled, although the sound didn't even reach his own ears now.

He was ready to take this as the permission to keep the armor.

* * *

Tony was looking at the armor as if it had done something to personally offend him. He was studying the damage and sliding his fingers along the worst scratches on the upper side of the chest plate with a frown.

“I let you take that armor and you let them paint it in the most _pretentious_ colors _and_ call it Iron Patriot? Really?”

“The name? That's what you're hung up on?” Rhodey just smiled a little at that. “Also I _took_ it remember. That's the story we're sticking with. I think that also means I can do whatever I want with it.”

“ _Iron Patriot_? Even you've to admit it's lame.”

“You mean like Iron _Man_? Sounds like the worst kind of porn.”

Tony grinned and wriggled his eyebrows. “Nothing wrong with that.” He walked around the propped up suit again. “So what do they want me to do? They know I'm a bit more expensive than your local repair shop.”

“You built it. You've coded it to me. Now we'd be very happy if you could put it back together. And maybe upgrade it a little. For safety's sake.”

“Safety? Whose safety?” Tony rolled his eyes at that, not even looking directly at Rhodey, but still at the Iron Patriot armor. “As if I'd give you guys any of the really cool stuff. Look what you do with it,” he said, gesturing toward the armor. “You wouldn't know cool when it hit you right in the face.” Then he looked at Rhodey, considering. “I'll tinker with it. See if I can enhance the few little problems that armor still had. You know? Back then. What was this Mark III? Maybe upgrade your security...” It was so very obvious that he was already running through all the things he wanted to change and upgrade and remodel.

Rhodey smiled. You could always count on Tony to be Tony, even when he was trying not to be.

“Iron _Patriot_?” Tony muttered again. “That already _sounds_ like a villain who tries to pose as a hero. You really had it coming. Who came up with that? And the color scheme is a _little_ clichéd. Only an idiot would wear that.”

“Did you just insult Captain America?” Rhodey chuckled.

“Yeah,” Tony said easily and grinned at him again. “I think I did. And before you ask: yes, that's a thing we do.”

“Insulting each other?”

“Yes. I have you know that I'm not always the one who starts it.”

“Not always.” Rhodey could imagine that quite well actually. “So you're bantering with Captain America?”

“Not like I do with you, Jim darling. And to be honest Pepper could give him a run for his money. He's way too nice even when he's not.” Tony had grabbed a spanner and – instead of starting to take the armor apart – hit it against the suit's arm lightly and watched parts of the shoulders and right arm fall to the floor with a loud noise. He looked at it and nodded as if he'd just figured out something important and turned to look at Rhodey with a smug grin. “A few small repairs, huh?”

He shrugged in answer. “I was caught in an explosion and then a mountain was literally dropped on me. A mountain. Don't ask. Not one of my better days.”

“Sounds pretty harmless to me. I nearly drowned in my exploding house.” Tony gave him another smug look and then turned back to the armor, deftly taking it apart and making the occasional irritated or thoughtful sound here and there. He worked silently for a few minutes, only giving commands to JARVIS when he needed something.

Rhodey enjoyed watching him work and found a place to sit on a work bench, far enough away not to interfere with his friend's work.

“ _Iron Patriot_ ,” Tony repeated, frowning. “At least War Machine was your own name. Why not name it Iron Man 2.0? You could be my official sidekick.”

“I'll pass, thank you. You'd probably insist I wear your pretentious red and gold then...”

“Maybe I should give the suit to Haley. _He_ was a useful sidekick,” Tony continued. “He could call himself Iron Lad or something.”

Rhodey chuckled at the thought of a miniature Iron Man saving the world. “Can you at least wait until he's 15 – or, you know, all grown up before making him fight crime and supervillains?”

“Hm. Yeah, right. Bad idea,” Tony agreed, as if he'd ever seriously considered it. “I already have a Hulk on the team. That's a bit like dealing with a teenager...”

“I'm sure the other Avengers would say the same about you,” he returned, laughing. “At least Pepper would.”

Tony turned around to give him a crooked smile, happy, relaxed and _honest_ like Rhodey hadn't seen him in a long, long time, maybe not even once since Afghanistan. “I'm glad you took the suit,” he said, suddenly not joking anymore, although the _mood_ hadn't changed. He was still smiling, but his eyes were serious. “It would have been my legacy.”

“You made me take it, you bastard.”

“Yes, but _you_ took it. And don't pretend you'd want it any other way,” Tony answered in a sing-song voice.

“You're still an idiot,” Rhodey told him. “You could have just given it to me.”

Tony shrugged. “No need to feel bad about stealing my property.”

“Hey!”

“I'll let you keep it. But believe me I'm going to tell Cap it was painted like this, because you wanted to call it the Cap 2.0 armor.”

“Very funny,” he said, grumbling.

“Don't worry. He'll probably like it...” Tony picked up working again, chuckling a little, probably imagining the face of Steve Rogers when he told him all about it.

“Miss Potts has arrived, sir,” JARVIS announced loudly.

Tony dropped the spanner on a nearby work table and nodded. “Are you staying for pizza?” he asked Rhodey. “Or do you have to head back to base?”

“I have time for food. “ He was happy to spend some quality time with his friend – and without somebody dying or the country or the world being in jeopardy for a change.

“Don't worry,” Tony said on their way to the elevator a slightly mischievous grin on his face. “You'll get back your armor, good as new.”

“I wasn't worried until you said it.”

* * *

He wasn't really surprised when two days later the suit was delivered back to the Air Force base, painted in a shining hue of metallic pink. A sticky note was attached to the helmet, reading: _It brings out your beautiful brown eyes. Have fun with the new enhancements. Tony_

The general standing beside him turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow and asked: “Did _we_ piss him off or is this all on you?”

Rhodey felt the corner of his mouth curl up into a slightly sardonic half-smile. “He really didn't like the new color scheme.”

The general just rolled his eyes and muttered something about eccentric billionaire geniuses. “Fix it.”

“Yes, sir.” He managed to keep his face straight until the man had turned his back.

“Fix it quickly. You don't want to escort the President wearing _that_ tomorrow,” the man added, before leaving.

Rhodey looked at the pink armor and winced. Then he took out his very own Stark Phone and texted: “There must have been a mix up. Didn't know Pepper wanted her own suit. What's she calling herself?”


End file.
